Food Safety and Quality: Consensus Reports

The division produces 60-70 reports per year. These reports are unique, authoritative expert evaluations. Each report is produced by a committee of experts selected by the Academy to address a particular statement of task and is subject to a rigorous, independent peer review. The experts who volunteer their time participating on study committees are vetted to make sure that the committee has the range of expertise needed to address the task, that they have a balance of perspectives, and to identify and eliminate members with conflicts of interest. All reports undergo a rigorous, independent peer review to assure that the statement of task has been addressed, that conclusions are adequately supported, and that all important issues raised by the reviewers are addressed. Thus, while the reports represent views of the committee, they also are endorsed by the Academy.

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The U.S. Department of State charged the Academies with the task of producing a protocol for development of standard operating procedures (SOPs) that would serve as a complement to the Chemical Laboratory Safety and Security: A Guide to Prudent Chemical Management and be included with the other materials in the 2010 toolkit. To accomplish this task, a committee with experience and knowledge in good chemical safety and security practices i...
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A tremendous number of restoration projects are planned and underway in the Gulf of Mexico to help mitigate damage done by the 2010 Macondo Well Deepwater Horizon oil spill. In order to ensure that restoration goals are met and money is well spent, restoration monitoring and evaluation should be an integral part of those projects. However, evaluations of past restoration efforts have shown that monitoring is often inadequate or even absent....
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The Edwards Aquifer is the primary source of water for drinking in the San Antonio area, and supplies the two largest freshwater springs in Texas, Comal Springs and San Marcos Springs. Both spring systems are used for recreation and are home to several species of fish, amphibians, insects, and plants found nowhere else. Eight Edwards Aquifer species are on the federal Endangered Species List because they are vulnerable to reduced spring flow...
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Gene drives are systems of biased inheritance that enhance the ability of a genetic element to pass from an organism to its offspring through sexual reproduction. A wide variety of gene drives occur in nature. Researchers have been studying these natural mechanisms throughout the 20th century but, until the advent of CRISPR/Cas91 for gene editing, have not been able to develop a gene drive.
Since early 2015, laboratory scientists hav...
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The 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident should serve as a wake-up call to nuclear plant operators and regulators on the critical importance of measuring, maintaining, and restoring cooling in spent fuel pools during severe accidents and terrorist attacks. This final phase of a 2-part study on lessons learned from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident provides findings and recommendations for improving U.S. nuclear plant security and spen...
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